All open dungeons being converted into instances?

[Alhanelem]

I'd much rather there be a zoneline.

Sorry, no. There should be no zonelines, anywhere except for instances. A seamless transition is much better than a fade to black and suddenly you're in a completely different place. It makes it too easy for level designers to create impossible spaces (Places that couldn't exist if they were real because their bounds intersect).

This doesn't mean you need "long loading corridors." WoW doesn't have these. You can walk from one zone to the next and there isn't even any corridor at all. Other zones are loaded in advance as you approach them. Other games like Oblivion do the same thing. The world is broken down into giant tiles and at any given time, only the one you're in and each of the ones surrounding it are loaded at any given time. when you move to a new tile, no-longer-adjacent tiles unload and new ones load.

No "copy pasta" action is required, either. You don't get copy pasta action because of seamless transitions. They have nothing to do with eachtoher. This happened in FFXIV because they were forced to reuse assets heavily to fill a large space in a short time constraint.

Loading screens stink, and there's nothing more to it than that. If they can be abolished in an elegant way in as many places as possible, they should be.

[Ava]

Sorry, no. There should be no zonelines, anywhere except for instances. A seamless transition is much better than a fade to black and suddenly you're in a completely different place. It makes it too easy for level designers to create impossible spaces (Places that couldn't exist if they were real because their bounds intersect).

This doesn't mean you need "long loading corridors." WoW doesn't have these. You can walk from one zone to the next and there isn't even any corridor at all. Other zones are loaded in advance as you approach them. Other games like Oblivion do the same thing. The world is broken down into giant tiles and at any given time, only the one you're in and each of the ones surrounding it are loaded at any given time. when you move to a new tile, no-longer-adjacent tiles unload and new ones load.

No "copy pasta" action is required, either. You don't get copy pasta action because of seamless transitions. They have nothing to do with eachtoher. This happened in FFXIV because they were forced to reuse assets heavily to fill a large space in a short time constraint.

Loading screens stink, and there's nothing more to it than that. If they can be abolished in an elegant way in as many places as possible, they should be.

Wow isn't cross platform.

Console only single player RPGs don't need to load a billion different equipment configurations for every human player in the zone you are loading into, along with random monster data, etc. This has all been explained before so I'm not going to go into detail. But it's not the same.

Zone lines are better in FFXIV's situation. We already have zone lines, they are just wearing a disguise.

[Preypacer]

Wow isn't cross platform.

Console only single player RPGs don't need to load a billion different equipment configurations for every human player in the zone you are loading into, along with random monster data, etc. This has all been explained before so I'm not going to go into detail. But it's not the same.

Zone lines are better in FFXIV's situation. We already have zone lines, they are just wearing a disguise.

Actually we have invisible zone lines in the form of the long "loading zone" corridors that, frankly, take longer to get through than it does for a loading screen.

We also have actual zone lines when you're leaving one region into the other. So, at this point XIV has both.

Further... I've never quite understood why people are so against zone lines and argue so much for streaming/seamless worlds. It's not like in a seamless world people are suddenly running long distances on foot (mount or otherwise) because there's no zone lines. They're teleporting around... which requires a loading screen. They're taking flight-paths which either require a loading screen if it's instant travel, or are sitting on an auto-pathed mount if it's not.

Even in FFXI, the zones are large enough where it's not like you're hitting a zone line every 5 minutes except in a few very specific places.

I've always found all the ranting against zone lines to be a bit over-baked, personally.

Edit: That's not to say I don't understand the appeal of a fully seamless world where areas blend more or less smoothly into each other... It gives that sense of continuity. I can appreciate that. I just don't know why so many people seem to argue for them as the solution to loading screens... considering loading screens are just as prevalent in seamless worlds, due to the reasons I mentioned above. It just seems a bit odd to me.

[Alhanelem]

Wow isn't cross platform.

Doesn't mean it couldn't have been. Frankly, I wish FFXI and FFXIV weren't either because releasing MMOs on consolse is stupid.

Zone lines are better in FFXIV's situation. We already have zone lines, they are just wearing a disguise.

Yes. That disguise is the lines aren't visible at all, and the user doesn't notice unless they're conciously thinking about it. That's the whole point of seamless transitions. They could have implemented them better in this game, but any seamless transition > loading screen. I'd rather have loading not directly interrupt anything, even if that means you're walking through a short tunnel. That's still better than a fade to black.

Console only single player RPGs don't need to load a billion different equipment configurations for every human player in the zone you are loading into

FFXIV isn't a console only single player RPG. Your point doesn't make any sense.

[Ava]

Doesn't mean it couldn't have been. Frankly, I wish FFXI and FFXIV weren't either because releasing MMOs on consolse is stupid.

Yes. That disguise is the lines aren't visible at all, and the user doesn't notice unless they're conciously thinking about it. That's the whole point of seamless transitions. They could have implemented them better in this game, but any seamless transition > loading screen. I'd rather have loading not directly interrupt anything, even if that means you're walking through a short tunnel. That's still better than a fade to black.

FFXIV isn't a console only single player RPG. Your point doesn't make any sense.

My point that doesn't make sense was @ Oblivion. Didn't think it needed that clarification.

And you never think, while running through a long empty corridor for the third time while traversing a zone - "what the heck is this random pointless corridor doing here. Didn't I just pass through one that was exactly the same?" because I sure do, and I know others that are annoyed by it as well. Different people have different tolerance levels for things like that. If you don't really care that you pass through the same, empty, seemingly pointless corridor for the third time in a single trip across a zone, then I would wager you are likely in the minority.

[Alhanelem]

My point that doesn't make sense was @ Oblivion. Didn't think it needed that clarification.

Even oblviion has lots of characters with lots of different gear. Your point means nothing. WoW works almost exactly the same way in terms of its outoor regions as Oblivion, and WoW is an MMORPG.

then I would wager you are likely in the minority.

No. I would wager I am in the VAST majority, as no one likes staring at a loading screen.

I already explained to you how you can have seamless transitions and not have long loading corridors. WoW does it. Many other games do it, both online and off. There's no reason FFXIV can't do it either.

And you never think, while running through a long empty corridor for the third time while traversing a zone - "what the heck is this random pointless corridor doing here. Didn't I just pass through one that was exactly the same?"

I have never thought that, nope. 1) because I don't visit those areas so often that every little detail would wear on my mind, and 2) because the "long loading corridor" isn't really that long. In any of the cave zones, you start seeing monsters quite quickly. In WoW and some other games even, you can actually see the monsters in the other zone before you get there. Zone lines are still there, but you wouldn't notice theme except for the onscreen message that you've moved to a new area.

[Issac]

No. I would wager I am in the VAST majority, as no one likes staring at a loading screen.

Why do people tend to assume they are the "vast" majority of anything? Unless it's something like being raped by monkeys, don't wager on anything like that.

[kensredemption]

Why do people tend to assume they are the "vast" majority of anything? Unless it's something like being raped by monkeys, don't wager on anything like that.

I don't know about being raped by monkeys, but I was man-handled by one when I went to the zoo as a kid. >_>

[kensredemption]

No. I would wager I am in the VAST majority, as no one likes staring at a loading screen

Speak for yourself, I don't mind staring at a loading screen. Hell, it gives me an excuse to actually stand up and go to the bathroom or get something to eat every once in awhile. Also, I'm finding it borderline blasphemous that you're even bothering to bring up WoW to compare it to XIV.

Don't get me wrong, I'd appreciate it if Square-Enix did something to make solo play much more progress-friendly, but I'd rather not have everything dumbed-down like it is in WoW when "skill" is dependent on what kind of gear the player possesses and what ultimately decides whether or not a player is accepted into a party/instance.

[Jynx]

WoW does it.

Wake me up when This



Looks something like this.

Then we can talk about them still having "Seamless" zone transitions.